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Published: March 18th 2007
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The ferry to Isla Mujeres
I have to remember to take dramamine! ¨Welcome to my island¨, a cheery voice sang out to me.
¨Uhhh, thanks ¨ I muttered. I was tired. I woke up at 9 in the morning to catch the ferry that was to take me to a beautiful island. I was soon cursing myself. The motion sickness was heavy as the boat churned in the water, going up and down like a continual roller coaster ride. I could feel myself about to upchuck any minute, which was why I sat next to the bathroom. As much as I suffer from this, you would think that I would remember to take dramamine, which is a pill to offset motion sickness. But noooo, it comes after the fact. Like when I´m holding my hand to my mouth.
Funny thing was, I was on the ferry ride with the weird Belgium. He had heard that I was going( me and my big mouth) and asked if we could travel together. I was tooo scared to say no. Ironically, he was really nice. He even carried my heavy ass backpack, the whole way there. When I warned him about my motion sickness, he brought me water. Maybe I was wrong about him.
Meet Hugo
My tour guide on Isla Mujeres Nah...he still had bad breath.
As we were approaching the island, I saw the crystal blue waters so famous of Mexican beaches. It was actually bluer than in Cancun. You could see right through to the fishes swimming in the sea. My stomach settled a little, possibly sensing the tranquility.
Isla Mujeres is one of the most popular islands in Mexico, next to Cozumel, but Isla is cheaper. Just like Cancun, it is very heavily populated, full of tourists. It´s not as crowded as Cancun but has more of a laid back feel to it. Here the cars share the streets with mopeds, motorcycles, bicycles and golf carts.
Belgium and I started walking and looking for Poc-Na, the hostel we were staying at. We must have walked around for about 20 minutes, when my back started to really hurt and feel tense. I was about to whine. No not the reggae dance. I mean really whine, ¨My feet hurt, my back hurts¨, in a real baby-like voice. I was ready to go outside of my budget and just pick a hotel....until Belgium pointed out the hostel. I heard the angels sing hallelujah.
Poc-Na is a
Mexican Chicken Mole (pronounced Molay)
It looks howit´s described : chicken and chocolate. But it tastes sooooo good! backpackers haven. It has a pretty big indoor restaurant with a bar and has a huge patio area that leads to the beach. At night they have beach parties, which goes on well into the night. At least that was what the receptionist said. I ´m starting not to believe receptionists in backpacker hostels. You´ll soon find out why. We walked in and asked if there were rooms available. I was not about to share a room with Belgium. There were three types of room, a twin bed for 90 pesos or $9, a full bed for 100 pesos, or $10, or a queen size bed for about 150 pesos, or $15. They were all shared rooms, or bunks. Belgium went for the 90 peso room, while I took the 100 peso. Although I didn´t want to share a room with him, I was not about to sleep on a small twin mattress. Hey... I´m on a budget, but I have standards.
As soon as I put my things away, I took a walk around the island. It was pretty nice, very touristic. Fifteen minutes into my walk, I heard the greeting, ¨Welcome to my island¨. It was coming
First stop on Mexican food odyssey.
This is a waffle filled with holland cheese called marquesitas. It was really good. from Hugo, a chubby little Mexican on a mountain bike, the normal transportation around here. He told me he owned a hotel on the island. I rolled my eyes, thinking he´s trying to sell me a room.
¨I already have a room¨
¨That´s nice, but have you had an authentic Mexican meal.¨ Oh great, I thought, he has a restaurant too.
¨No but I´m sure I´ll find someplace cheap to eat.¨There, now he will leave me alone.
¨Will it be as cheap as homemade and free?¨
Free? My ears perked up. Everyone knows that as a backpacker, you try to find the cheapest possible alternative to the norm. And free is the best alternative.
But I tried acting nonchalant, like what he said didn´t faze me.
"Sounds good. Where do I find this place?"
"Take my bike and follow me"
A bike ride, OK this is where the price comes in.
"How much?"
" For you, free"
I hopped on that bike faster than Britney Spears marriage. A free bike ride? In Mexico, you mostly have to rent bikes by the hour which costs around $10-$15 dollars. I never calculated this into my daily budget. But this one
Second Stop- Authentic Mexican tacos
It´s not like what we usually think of when we think of tacos. It´s in a flat, soft tortilla mounted with chicken , lettuce, tomato, sour cream... was free! My luck was starting to change, not that I had bad luck before (knock on wood). I mounted his bike and off we went, he walking, me riding. We stopped at his hotel , where he introduced me to his aunt, a woman who takes care of the hotel when Hugo is not in. He showed me the way into the kitchen, his aunt following. I was a little worried about going but I figured if they try to poison me, his aunt, as a woman, will feel guilty, and naturally try to save me. We sat down at a table, where they offered me authentic Mexican chicken Mole´.
Mexican chicken Mole is famous for its main ingredient, chocolate. I had always heard of the dish, but have never tasted it. I mean chicken and chocolate... these Mexicans think of everything! They asked me if I wanted to try it. I was a little hesitant but figured, I love chicken, I love chocolate...why not?
When they set the plate in front of me, I gotta tell ya, it didn´t look at all appealing. It looked exactly how it´s described, chicken in chocolate. But I readied myself
Hugo´s Aunt
You could tellshe cared a lot about Hugo, she pratically took care of him. to taste it. It´s the least I could do.
I experienced my first taste orgasm. It was like an explosion in my mouth. It was sweet but at the same time spicy. You couldn´t really taste the chocolate, but at the same time, you caught certain characteristics on your toungue. The spices were enough not to burn your toungue, but to enhance the sweetness. It was like a food contradiction, spicy and sweet. In other words, I loved it!! I sopped up the spicy chocalate grave with some tortilla that was placed on my side, until there was none left. It was amazing.
During the meal Hugo and I talked about our lives, Mexican and American. Hugo´s family owned the hotel, but Hugo ran it. He studied computers and wants to move off the island and into Cancun, because he feels bored. I noticed Hugo was drinking more and more alcohol as the night passed on, a symptom of boredom many Mexicans feel when on an island where not much happens.
After the meal, Hugo took me on a food odyssey. We went around to different food vendors on the street and bought different snacks and food
A typical street in Isla Mujeres
You can see the how touristic it looks. But very colorful. such as authentic Mexican tacos, a sweet fried tortilla filled with cheese, and many more that if I start thinking about it, I´ll start to drool and mess up this computer.
After we went back to his hotel, where he let me use the computer for free, a service you would normally pay one dollar an hour for.
I left Hugo that night and went to the backpackers beach bar, which was cool, although the music sucked. I met this really great girl from Switzerland, who was really outspoken. She said what was on her mind, and didn´t care who it offended. We were drinking at the bar when she yelled out, ¨This drink sucks, I need more alcohol.¨
You better believe I offered my cup too!
The next day I got up to what the receptionist at the hostel promised me was a free continental breakfast. Continental to me means eggs, bacon, maybe toast and coffee. But continental in Mexico just means toast with coffee. I was very dissappointed.
The rest of the day was spent lounging on the beach and chilling with Hugo and his aunt. I really enjoyed spending time with them.
Beautiful Caribbean beach of Isla Mujeres
It just makes you want to sit and stare... It didn´t hurt that they fed me and let me have full use of the internet and bicycles for free, which was really cool. Hugo took me on a motorcycle ride (for free!) around the island where he showed me places tourists don´t get to see, like the shanty towns and villages, and cheap restaurants. I had the best time, I was a little worried because he was going faster than I was used to.
I left Isla Mujeres two days after I arrived and went back to Cancun for a couple of days.
You won´t believe who I met there!!
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Sylvia
non-member comment
Jealous
Man it sound like you are having so much fun, you know if you ever need anything while you are out there I got you. But how are you just going to stop in the middle of a sentence, i want to know who you meant.... LOL... I am supposed to be working and I am all in your blogs. By the way Hugo looks a little scary, you braver than me.